Harwich defibrillator saves stricken bicyclist

Wednesday

HARWICH — A Brewster police officer likely saved the life of a 65-year-old bicyclist yesterday morning when he revived the man, who was in cardiac arrest, with an automated external defibrillator.

HARWICH — A Brewster police officer likely saved the life of a 65-year-old bicyclist yesterday morning when he revived the man, who was in cardiac arrest, with an automated external defibrillator.

Brewster police Officer Frank Mirisola was in the vicinity of the bike path and Seymour's Pond, just over the Harwich town line, when he heard over his scanner that the Harwich police and fire departments were dispatching units to an unresponsive man on the bike path.

Mirisola was the first one on the scene and immediately started using the automated defibrillator on the unidentified man. The device, which is kept in Brewster police cruisers, is a portable unit that electrically jolts the heart back into normal rhythm.

Harwich rescue workers took the man to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. Police had no further information on the incident, and the man's condition could not be confirmed last night.

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